Hello,
Unfortunately I lost an extraordinary pet couple weeks ago. I would like to inquire if it is possible to store the DNA for much later possible extraction (even decades) for whole genome sequencing and other uses, as such services hopefully become more readily available in the future. The pet has been chilled not frozen and the sample has not been collected yet.
I have understood that DNA from hair with root intact preserves itself the longest. I found a popular method for storing the hair is:
- First air dry the hairs (10-40 hair pieces) on paper for approximately a day
- Then put the hair in paper envelope (or ziplock bag), one bag or envelope per hair. Though, perhaps couple hair per envelope/bag suffices
- Seal the envelopes in an airtight container such as Rubbermaid container or pill container, with silica gel pouch in it but outside the envelopes to control humidity
- It is somewhat unclear if freezing the sample in a consumer freezer is beneficial. However, freezers with automatic defrost cycle should be avoided.
Furthermore, an AI it recommended completely removing the air using vacuum bags and freezing, I also read something about using Argon to replace the air.
I am very interested whether the experts here believe this is feasible. Thank you very much for your time.
